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How to Get in the VK0EK Log (Pt. 7): How to Handle DQRM By KY6R

DQRM (Deliberate QRM or "DX Mischief") is a very hard thing to deal with, but there are a few things you can do. You have already read the DX Code of Conduct – but you realize that you are a good "DX Citizen", so that document, while well intentioned, doesn’t apply to you. You "follow the golden rule" already. You also aren’t a DX Cop – who in many cases are the worst DQRM-ers out there. So, what can you do?

1. Learn to use your filters on your rig. Use Google with a search string like "filters elecraft K3" or something like that for your rig. You will find all kinds of videos, and combined with your manual, you will be very surprised at what you can do to shift the offenders from being "impossible" to "highly annoying, but at least I can now make my QSO" despite these despots

2. Try a highly directional separate receive antenna that can null out the offenders on the same frequency as the DXpedition. This technique is very well known on 160M (Top Band), and I have found that it works wonders on ALL bands

3. Leave the frequency and band where its become simply ridiculous and try to work the DXpedition on another band and frequency. Your blood pressure will thank you for it – and you will make your QSO. Then, you might even be surprised that when you go back to the other band and frequency that earlier was impossible, the DQRMers might have just left the frequency – or things might have calmed down

4. Be realistic about when you will work the DXpedition. When I had 100 watts and a wire, I never expected to work the DX-pedition on the first day – UNLESS that DXpedition was a very close and easy catch (OC-PAC and Asia as well as anything near NA like Caribbean and Central and South America) for me here in the San Francisco Bay Area. HOWEVER, once I upgraded my antennas and power level, I have easily been able to get into the DXpeditions log the first day. But I will always remember knowing that with 100 watts and a wire my expectations were that I would work the DXpedition after all the big guns got into the log. The big guns were fast and did their work quickly – I was the one who had to "wait my turn" and set realistic expectations

5. Use the grey line to your advantage. For example, on the West Coast and on the low bands – I might wait until EU and the US East, Central and Rocky states are in daylight while the West Coast is still in darkness. This means only the West Coast can work the DXpedition on the Low Bands. Of course – the opposite situation can exist – you might have total daylight and have access to bands that haven’t opened elsewhere. This might be the #1 most effect way to "filter out" DQRMers – you simply can’t copy them at all!

6. If you have 100 watts and a wire, do what I did with P5/4L4FN – which was hands down the easiest ultra rare DX I have ever worked. I read all of the DX Bulletins and knew when Ed would be on the air – almost down to the minute. I camped out on the published frequency and knew where he would be listening in the split. Before he was even posted on the cluster I had my QSO on 10M and 15M – and that was with 200 watts and a Cushcraft MA5B mini beam

7. Don’t add to the fray – the DQRMer wants a "rise" out of you, the earnest and well behaved DXer. He wants to see he disrupted the frequency and pileup. Don’t give in and let him pull you into a street fight. Take the high road. This means on the radio itself – but also on the DX Cluster and even on the DX Forums and social media outlets. The stronger you are in ignoring / avoiding / taking the high road, the more you will render the DQRMer weak and ineffective

8. Go for a bike ride, do yoga, hug your significant other, go on a hike when all else fails – after all, this is only a hobby! A much nicer pileup will be waiting for you when you come back with a clear head and a relaxed state of mind

Be resourceful, be clever – and you can conquer DQRM. Take it on as a "healthy challenge" and laugh at these silly noise makers – with a sense of humor, you will laugh past these DQRMers.